All posts tagged "sony"

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

"The online movie business has been booming in recent years thanks to everyone and their mom either starting up their own services or signing contracts with the major players. Despite so many entrants into the market, Apple has still managed to retain its dominance when it comes to delivering feature-length films to customers, though it has lost some of its share of the consumer dollar over time."

Interesting that Walmart (in this article) is predicted to become a much bigger player in online movie sales. With Apple having 64.5 percent market share in 2010, followed by Microsoft at 17.9 percent, and Sony third at 7.2 percent, Walmart is currently lumped-in with the "other" group, sharing the remaining 10.4 percent. I guess that it makes sense, as Walmart isn't generally content to be anything but first wherever they compete. Maybe it's a reaction to being overtaken by Apple in music sales back in 2008, or maybe they sense an opportunity - as sales of physical media begin to dwindle. They haven't become the largest retailer on the planet by missing emerging trends. Anyone see a future for physical media?

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

"Apple issued a surprisingly timely response to a claim made by the New York Times that suggested the company might bar iOS apps that sell content outside of Apple's software market within iTunes."

It's been quite the story since yesterday, with Sony coming in late to the e-reader app game and getting shut down by Apple, while existing e-book apps such as Kindle and Nook are still allowed to go out of app for purchases. And it took less than a day for Apple to issue a response, and in fact it came out the same day as they tried to do damage control with the "end of the world" story lines that were cropping up. According to Apple, and also independent developers, the guidelines have not changed but they have changed how they are making developers comply with them. Apple wants apps to allow users to purchase in-app obviously since they get a 30% cut, so if they can purchase outside the app Apple wants the option for the same purchase to be available in-app. Seems reasonable since Apple is bringing the infrastructure for sales to the table, all they ask is the "option" for a piece of the pie. That being said, I do see why developers would be upset about it because, if the price were the same either way, why wouldn't I take the easy route and go in-app, thus cutting into the developers payment. While some would pay attention to this and make sure developers got their share by going outside the app, most people would go in-app due to convenience. What are your thoughts now that the dust has settled on this issue? Any predictions about what will happen to the existing apps such as the Kindle?

"According to the New York Times, Apple has rejected a few apps recently including Sony's Reader app, based on the way content is purchased for use within the app. Sony's Reader app is an eBook platform similar to Apple's own iBooks app and the Amazon Kindle app. Content can be found and purchased outside the app, bypassing Apple's iTunes Store and therefore bypassing Apples[sic] slice of the pie."

I really hope this isn't true. If Apple goes in this direction, I can see the ebook sellers leaving the App store. Right now, the iPad is the best device for reading ebooks because you can buy from any store. But if Apple takes a cut from every purchase, then the ebook sellers have two choices: charge more for their books on the iPad, or leave the iPad all together. I suspect they'll choose the latter. This doesn't bode well. What do you think: should Apple force ebook sellers to give Apple a cut of every ebook sale?

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

"Sony's Google TV remote (left) as compared to Apple TV's remote (right) help make manifest just how different these products will be, and they're just two of the competitors poised to battle it out for next generation rights to your living room this holiday season."

I suppose it makes sense to have the Google TV remote have all those buttons since their UI is going to be search based, but wow, it is huge! I'm sure most will be using the remote app on their phone instead of this giant.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

"Sony has introduced four new sets of earphones designed for the iPod/iPhone: Three earbud and one over-the-ear style."

I'm always looking for a good set of earphones or earbuds. This one, available now, is the model MDR-EX38iP, and sells for $39.95 USD. The other ones range in price all the way up to $99.99 USD, possibly higher since one has no price listing, and will be released in May of this year.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

"Sony today touted a pair of firsts in a new Blu-ray player. The BDP-S470 is its first player explicitly labeled as 3D capable and will show the format in 1080p with a firmware upgrade due to arrive in the summer. It's also one of the first that can be controlled through an iPhone or iPod touch: a recently launched BD Remote app not only provides basic control but will show related content for a given movie."

The app is free and available now in iTunes, and lets you control pretty much everything on the Sony BDP-S470, as well as get info about the movie and all the actors. This would be good for the iPad. The player is set to ship by March and cost roughly $200.00 USD.